The Monitor – “Anthony Pennacchi & Sons Carries on Craftsmanship of Their Ancestors”

Published In – The Monitor

“There are not that many stonemasons who are doing what the Europeans did when they came over in the early part of the last century,”

says long-time Monitor advertiser Sr. Paul Pennacchi, owner and CEO of Anthony Pennacchi & Sons.

A New Jersey native and third-generation stone mason and restoration expert, Paul learned the business from his father Anthony, who learned it from his father Gaetano. Gaetano and his brother came to the United States from Italy in 1917. The brothers went door to door offering their masonry services in exchange for other services, while their sons pushed the wheelbarrow and carried tools.

Anthony formally founded the company in 1947, and today, it is the oldest masonry, contracting, and waterproofing company in Mercer County.

Paul recognizes that his company’s success is due to the long experience, unique skill set, and exceptional craftsmanship he and family members bring to the restoration of some of the area’s oldest churches, tallest steeples, and even modern-day skyscrapers. The company has provided over 80 percent of the restoration to residential Trenton.

“The project that put us on the map, was the restoration of St. Francis Hospital in 1956. To this day, not one brick is bad.”

says Sr. Paul Pennacchi

The company has now expanded into Rhode Island, Washington, D.C., and New York. “At the age of 50, I’m just warming up,” says Paul, who has passed his passion and his knowledge on to his son, Paul, Jr. “I am blessed to be able to say, ‘I never worked a day in my life.’”